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Angelo Desideri
Real Name: Angelo Desideri Nicknames: No known nicknames Location: Phoenix, Arizona Date: June 5, 1988 Bio Occupation: Businessman Date of Birth: 1931 (approx.) Height: 5'10" Weight: 165 pounds Marital Status: Single Characteristics: Caucasian male, Brown eyes. Case Details: Fifty-seven-year-old Angelo Desideri was a Phoenix businessman who was a devout Catholic; he had once studied for the priesthood, but decided not to join. He had several close friends, but he never married; he lived with his parents in an affluent Phoenix suburb. He enjoyed the finer things in life; he had a small fortune from owning a shopping center and an import store. On the morning of Monday, June 6, 1988, a neighboring shop owner noticed that Angelo had not opened the import store. One of his friends, Stan Eggleston, drove to his house to see if anything was wrong. Stan noticed that the house's alarm was off, along with other things that were out of place. Believing that something was wrong, he went to the neighbor's house and called the police. He and a police officer entered the home a few minutes later. Inside, Angelo was nowhere to be found. The house was undisturbed and it appeared that he was interrupted while preparing lunch, as food was found on the stove and in the microwave. Several bills were laid out on the kitchen table; it appeared that he was about to pay them. In the living room, two new pairs of pants were found next to a shopping bag. A receipt in the bag showed that he had bought them at 12:47PM the previous day. No other trace of him was found. It appeared as though Angelo had left in a hurry. His sister Dolores noted that he had not taken anything from the home except his attache case, some jewelry, and some money. In the garage, investigators discovered his car cover piled up on the floor; this was unusual as Angelo always neatly folded it when he took it off of the car. A neighbor told investigators that he had seen Angelo's Cadillac speed away from his home the previous evening; he did not believe that Angelo was driving, because the driver appeared taller than Angelo and he did not acknowledge the neighbor as he drove off. At 6:32PM on June 6, the car was found ablaze in a vacant lot in San Diego, California. An accelerant was used to set the fire. Angelo's personal items were not found in the car. Investigators found nothing in the trunk other than the jack; everything appeared to have been taken out of it. It appeared that the car had been meticulously washed and cleaned. They also found no evidence of forced entry on the car. Investigators tried to retrace the route from Phoenix to San Diego, but nobody at gas stations along the way remembered seeing Angelo. His credit cards had also not been used. Car washers had also not seen him. Two witnesses were located that claimed to have seen the car just minutes before it was set on fire. One witness saw a man resembling Angelo in front of it. Another witness passing by also saw the man. However, neither witness could conclusively identify the man as Angelo or anyone else. Angelo's family and friends believe that he had met with foul play, while police believe that he may have staged his disappearance. One investigator suspects that there is a "secret side" to him that may have been the reason behind his disappearance. Suspects: An unidentified man was seen next to Angelo's car in the vacant lot before it was set on fire the day he vanished. Police believe that this man may know what happened to him. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the February 1, 1989 episode. Results: Solved. On March 16, 1989, Phoenix police charged Giuseppe "Joe" Calo with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and burglary on Angelo Desideri. Calo was a friend and business associate of Angelo's and had detailed information about his disappearance. Calo claimed that the information he had came from a man named James David Majors. Majors had worked with Calo in construction; at the time of Calo's indictment, Majors was in a California jail, charged with several murders. According to Calo, Majors went to Angelo's house on the afternoon of his disappearance. He rang the doorbell and asked for a glass of water. He then took Angelo at gunpoint, robbed the house, forced him into his car, and drove him into the desert. Somewhere between Phoenix and San Diego, Majors allegedly shot him to death and placed him in the trunk of the car. The following morning, Majors went to a hardware store and purchased a pick and shovel. He then drove down a desert back road to an area adjacent to a run down house. After that, he dug a hole in the ground next to a large tree and placed Angelo's body in it. For unknown reasons, he then gave the pick and shovel to the poor people who lived in a nearby home. After that, he left the area and drove to San Diego, where he abandoned the car. All of this information is based on statements Majors allegedly made to Calo. A diary written by Majors' wife, however, seemed to confirm some of Calo's statements. Calo also told investigators that Majors had owned a storage locker. Police searched the locker and recovered property belonging to Angelo. These items were apparently stolen from the Desideri home. This discovery also corroborated Calo's story. Angelo's body was finally found by campers on April 29, 1989; it was buried beneath a tree in the desert near Kitchen Creek, California, forty-five miles east of San Diego. According to Calo, he and Majors had been hired to murder Angelo on the orders of Romano Sbrocca, a known drug trafficker. According to him, Angelo sold drugs and kept records for a drug-trafficking operation run by Sborcca and another man. He was apparently killed because he wanted to get out of the crime ring. Calo was convicted of Angelo's murder and six other contract killings. The other killings were also related to the crime ring. He received life in prison and died in 2010. Majors, who was never charged with Angelo's murder, received the death penalty for a triple murder in California; he died on January 26, 2017. It is not known if Sbrocca was ever charged in this case. Interestingly, Majors has allegedly been connected to the death of Jeanne Tovrea, a Phoenix socialite whose murder was profiled on the show. However, he was never charged in that case either. Links: * 2 men held in probe of 9 killings in California, Arizona * Gun links 'unrelated' slayings * Body found is that of business owner * Evidence links restaurateur to 2 of 7 slayings * Businessman Receives Life Term for One of Seven Contract Murders * Businessman meted life term for contract killing * Contract murder sentence decided * Diary of a Scared Housewife (1993 Article about James Majors) * Unsealed papers explain killings * California Killer Awaiting Execution Dies of Unknown Causes ---- Category:Arizona Category:California Category:1988 Category:Abduction Category:Disappearances Category:Fire-Related Cases Category:Solved